The Beatles to release On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 compilation of radio performances and interviews

Live takes, interviews and studio banter fill out the bumper 63-track compilation.

Columbia Records has announced the release of a second collection of The Beatles’ radio performances recorded at the BBC between March 1962 and June 1965. On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 comprises 63 tracks over two discs, including 23 tracks of interviews, introductions, and studio chit-chat, plus 40 songs.

The Beatles were regulars at the Beeb in this three-year period, recording 275 performances. In 1963 alone they appeared on 39 radio shows, and on July 16 that year they recorded no fewer than 18 songs for three editions of their Pop Go The Beatles series, as the Telegraph reports.

Alongside performances of the band’s early hits like ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, the compilation includes many of the band’s early repertoire of covers, including John Lennon’s take on Chuck Berry’s ‘I’m Talking About You’ and Paul McCartney doing Little Richard’s ‘Lucille’. A remastered version of the first Live at the BBC collection set will be released to coincide with Volume 2’s release on 11 November. [via CoS]

Beatles reached a milestone in their career last month when changes to the British Phonographic Industry’s (BPI) rules on allocating sales awards meant a string of classic Beatles albums – including Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, and Revolver – were certified with platinum or gold status. Many of the albums had previously received no sales certifications due to being released prior to the BPI’s introduction of sales awards in 1973.